Ex-gang leader gets 87 years

February 15, 2013

HAMMOND -- The former leader of a gang has been sentenced to 87 years in prison after pleading guilty to racketeering and drug charges.

U.S. District Judge Philip Simon in Hammond sentenced Guillermo Briseno on Tuesday, telling him the Imperial Gangsters' drug dealing and rash of shootings had terrorized residents in the city of East Chicago.

The Times of Munster reports Briseno had been the gang's leader until about 2009, when he began turning his life around while helping his grandfather during a hospital stay.

He pleaded guilty last year to one count each of conspiracy to racketeer and possessing with the intent to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana.